Robinson Island to get help for erosion

Register file photoRobinson Island will get some help to prevent erosion on the shoreline of the north end of the city-owned island in Terry Cove, according to Orange Beach officials.

ORANGE BEACH, Alabama -- The north end of Robinson Island in Terry Cove will soon get a quick-fix to stabilize the shoreline and stop erosion, according to city officials.

The city expects to receive permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management in a couple of weeks and then will hire a contractor to install the riprap of crushed limestone along about 180 front feet of shoreline, according to Phillip West, coast resources manager for Orange Beach.

The project will be funded with part of a $90,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

"This is just a stop gap to stabilize the north end from further erosion," West said. "The boat wake is causing it. We’ve got to do something quickly."

The city paid $4.3 million for the 12.5-acre Robinson Island in 2004. The island serves as a heron rookery and is also popular with boaters.

The work will not affect boaters who use the island’s south end, according to Mayor Tony Kennon. "There’s a tremendous amount of boat traffic on the northeast area of the island," he said.

"We don’t encourage people to traipse along the north end while there are nesting birds," West said. "The southern end has appropriate access. The north end is more sensitive ecologically and more dangerous to launch a boat."

The long-term effort to stop erosion on Robinson Island will involve dredging and putting more sand on the island, according to West.

The city also plans to use the grant funds to have real estate appraisals done of various privately owned islands in the local area, West said. The appraisals will determine the affordability of area islands, he said.